Social messaging hub

ABSTRACT

A social messaging hub provides communication services for a data enabled device having Internet network access capabilities such as a portable media player, personal digital assistant, a Wi-Fi mobile platform, a tablet computer, portable e-Reader, a personal computer, a laptop and a netbook computer. The social messaging hub communicates with the data enabled device over the Internet or cellular data networks, and interfaces with a message infrastructure including mobile carriers, message aggregators, message exchanges and various specialized social messaging services, such as Microsoft Windows Live Messenger, AIM, Yahoo, GoogleTalk, Facebook and Twitter to enable bi-directional messaging communication. The user is given a registered phone number and unique IP addressable identification which serve as a source and destination identifier of the associated data enabled device. Messages may originate in or be delivered to other users&#39; mobile telephones or in similarly equipped and provisioned IP data enabled devices.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/111,109 entitled: “SOCIAL MESSAGING HUB” filed May 19, 2011, whichclaims the benefit of the filing date of earlier filed U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application having Ser. No. 61/346,133 entitled “SOCIAL MESSAGINGSYSTEM AND DEVICES,” filed May 19, 2010 that shares inventorship withthe present application, which claims the benefit of an earlier filedU.S. Provisional Patent Application having Ser. No. 61/473,508 entitled“SOCIAL MESSAGING SYSTEM,” filed, Apr. 8, 2011, that shares inventorshipwith the present application and claims the benefit of 61/473,542, filedApr. 8, 2011 and is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/535,323 entitled “SMS TECHNOLOGY FOR COMPUTERIZED DEVICESfiled Aug. 4, 2009 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,694,031 issued Apr. 8, 2014, thatshares inventorship with the present application and which claims thebenefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/137,918entitled “Apparatus and Methods for TV Social Applications”, filed Aug.5, 2008, and claims the benefit of the filing date of: of earlier filedU.S. Provisional Patent Application having Ser. No. 61/164,705 entitled“SMS TECHNOLOGY FOR COMPUTERIZED DEVICES” that shares inventorship withthe present application. The entire teachings and contents of thesePatent Applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to messaging and communications, and tomobile telephony, text messaging, instant messaging, multimediamessaging, personal computers and data enabled digital devices.

BACKGROUND

People around the world are confronted by a number of communications andwriting devices which have evolved relatively recently from the separateareas of telephone communications networks, wireless networks,television or cable networks, and computer networks and personalcomputers. The more recent devices—mobile phones withmessage/picture/video texting, personal digital devices for Internetbrowsing and computer-based blogging and social networking sites—havebeen shaped in part by the separate networks of origin, but the natureand capabilities of many of these now-ubiquitous devices have bothconverged, and also advanced quickly in different directions as theindustries controlling each sector have capitalized on their marketpower, reservoir of legacy subscribers and, in some cases, regulatorybarriers and proprietary network equipment and connection protocols, tointroduce new consumer features, often employing developments from otherconsumer products, and aiming to lure subscribers by mimicking thoseproducts. However, in doing so, each industry has also been limited byits own equipment, data transfer speeds and connection abilities.

Thus, as digital imaging advanced and consumers learned to take andhandle images and to attach the images to e-mail messages, imagingchipsets were incorporated into mobile telephones and the mobile phoneswere configured to display images and allow their transmission betweenphones. Text and message protocols allowed transmission of ‘instant’messages, and coded standardized greetings and messages between phoneusers, filling a niche for immediate portable, personal communicationthat was not met by existing personal computer devices. Devices like theiPhone®, introduced in 2007 allowed a user to access his Internet-basedemail from his mobile phone via a specially-configured data connectionwith his mobile service provider, and to exchange content via wirelessconnection to his personal computer.

However, despite these developments blurring boundaries between theclassical phone, mobile telephone, Internet, wireless and television orcable networks, there has not been a convergence. Rather, althoughindustry and government groups have promoted interface standards forseveral different classes of data or communication, each industry hasretained much of its special structure, and the devices served by anindustry (such as mobile telephones) may find their feature setconstrained by intrinsic limitations of bandwidth and connectivity, byavailable networking equipment base, and by the level of contractualcooperation agreements of its provider. The many different classes ofcommunications systems now available, and the many separate providernetworks in each class, have also required the development of newsupporting entities, such as nationally- or internationally-extendingregistries, aggregators, exchanges and other entities, in order toaffect timely transfer of data, messages and/or entertainment content.This second-level infrastructure imposes further constraints of thefeasible, or economically feasible, set of features that a consumer mayexercise. Thus, for example, mobile telephones have been augmented witha display and the ability to run small applications such as games, MP3players, Internet browsers/applications and email retrieval, whilepersonal computers have the capability to run larger programs, employwireless connectivity and perform voice-over-IP (VOIP) Internetcommunications. Various special-purpose applications requiringcross-platform connections may be provided, or applications simulatingcross-platform capabilities may be developed, by a service provider,such as a television-displayed chat session available for subscribers ofa TV provider. However, many other personal devices while having largedata capacity, ability to connect to another user device and ability torun entertainment apps, may entirely lack the mobile telephoneelectronic circuitry necessary for exchanging mobile messages withtelephone users. Additionally, the delivery of messages in some socialmessaging systems is affected by limitations of carrier networks andinternational boundaries. It is therefore desirable to provide a systemfor enhanced communication between personal devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Enhanced communication between personal devices is achieved inaccordance with one aspect of the invention by a system forcommunication with a data enabled device although lacking mobile phonehardware and software, includes Internet network access capabilities.Such data enabled devices include, but are not limited to, an iPodTouch®, iPad®, portable e-Reader, a personal computer, a portable gameplayer, a game console, a laptop, a television set or a netbookcomputer. The user of a non-telephony data enabled personal electronicdevice or a data enabled telephony device (e.g., smartphone, iPhone) isgiven a registered phone number (or an additional phone number for dataenabled telephony devices) which serves to identify the source device inmessages originating from the user of service on the data enableddevice. The phone number also serves to indicate destination in messagesdirected to the user of the service on the non-telephony data enableddevice. Such messages may originate in mobile telephones of other users,or in similarly equipped and provisioned non-telephony or telephony dataenabled devices of other users. A social messaging hub operates suchthat incoming mobile text messages/multi-media messages aretransparently routed, locally or internationally, through existing ShortMessage Service/Multimedia Messaging Service/Enhanced Messaging ServiceSMS/MMS/EMS messaging infrastructures including messaging aggregationand delivery organizations, thus messaging bi-directionally betweenmobile phones and the user's non-telephony data device or smartphone.Instant messaging communications is also facilitated by the socialmessaging hub.

The registered phone number may be acquired through or serviced by acompetitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), local exchange carrier (LEC)or other provider that is authorized to issue registered phone numbers,and the set of numbers so issued may be serviced by that carrier'snetwork, or by a separate entity or sub-entity, herein called a networkunaffiliated virtual operator (NUVO), that serves as the serviceprovider to users and functions as a destination carrier to receivemessages directed to its telephone numbers (i.e., the numbers assignedby the NUVO to the user's data enabled device) from the messageaggregator and to provide an Internet interface for delivery of themessages to users' non-telephony devices. The NUVO operating the socialmessaging hub receives messages from the user's data device over theInternet and transmit the messages through a connection to entities in amessaging infrastructure (e.g., a message aggregator or a carrier), fordelivery to the mobile phones or non-telephony or telephony data enableddevices of intended recipients. The NUVO also receives SMS/MMS messages,via the aggregator entity or carrier, when these are directed to theregistered phone number of a user served by the NUVO, and transmitsthese messages to (or allows web access from) the user's non-telephonyor telephony data enabled device or mobile phone over the Internet. Inthis manner, the non-telephony data enable device, lacking a mobiletelephony chip set or software, simulates the messaging abilities of amobile phone. The non-telephony personal device is thus rendered SMS,MMS and EMS capable. For data enabled devices, the registered phonenumber may be seen as (and is sometimes referred to below as) a‘virtual’ phone number, making the device addressable by mobile phoneswithout the need for any special applications or software updates. Whena data enabled mobile phone, is enabled by the NUVO, a secondary oralternative phone number to the one assigned by default can be used tosend and receive messages separately under the NUVO phone number. Thisallows a user to operate two lines, for example with personal andbusiness numbers, in a single mobile device, such as a smart phone.

In one embodiment, a technique for messaging communications with a dataenabled device includes obtaining a plurality of unique identifiers,assigning to a user of the data enabled device a unique identifier fromthe plurality of unique identifiers, associating the unique identifierwith a data enabled device identifier. The technique further includesregistering the unique identifier to data enabled device identifierassociation in a database, receiving a message from a message sourcethrough a message service directed to the user's data enabled devicehaving the registered unique identifier obtained from the messagesource, providing the message using the database to identify thedestination of message to an inbound service, establishing a connectionbetween a data enabled device and the inbound service and pushing themessage from the inbound service to an application running on the dataenabled device.

Such a technique, overcomes the limitations of carrier networks andinternational boundaries. Significantly, this technique provides atelephone number to the user, thus invoking many of the legal rightsenjoyed by telephone subscribers in the user's jurisdiction. The servicemay appeal especially to parents who do not want their children to havemobile phones, but understand the value of texting and other messagingfor the child's social life, enabling communications and educationaldevelopment; or who wish to have each family member in a family planservice, but without the high costs associated with full mobiletelephony plans. In this case, the virtual phone number may be viewed asa placeholder for later telephone service, for example when the childgraduates beyond elementary school. From the provider perspective,because the use of a virtual phone number for addressing SMS/MMS/EMSmessages neither requires nor involves the extensive tracking androuting infrastructure that supports mobile voice calling, but can besupported by a simple web-based server network, they may offer virtualnumber messaging services at attractive and affordable rates withoutincurring incremental capital requirements.

Indeed, all subscriber messages are transmitted over the Internetthrough one or more servers and a message aggregation entity in themessaging infrastructure, so the entire service may be set up as a smallthird party or outside NUVO, or as similarly small Internet-coupledserver operation within an existing mobile carrier (or land-line)network. When offered by an existing mobile carrier to a subscriber withan existing mobile phone, the system enables a user to additionally logonto a web-based service to send and receive SMS/MMS messages with hisPC or other data enabled device. Such a web-based service may alsooperate to send and receive messages identified by a user's land linephone number, even if the user's land line/fixed phone is notSMS/MMS/EMS capable. The social messaging hub may be configured toexchange user messages with common messaging entities, such as MicrosoftWindows Live Messenger, AIM, Yahoo, GoogleTalk™, Twitter, Facebook andothers, so that texting mobile phones and non-telephony data devices canenjoy substantially similar messaging capabilities. When offered by anexisting mobile carrier to a subscriber with an existing mobile phone,the system enables a user to additionally use a secondary phone numbersimultaneously with his primary phone number to send and receiveSMS/MMS/EMS messages with his mobile phone, in essence providing aduality of identifications on a single device.

An exemplary social messaging hub for Short Message Service/MultimediaMessaging Service/Enhanced Messaging Service (SMS/MMS/EMS)communications includes an SMS provider, a inbound service coupled tothe SMS provider, a database coupled to the inbound service and a webserver, a Representational State Transfer (REST) service coupled to theweb server; and a data push server coupled to the REST service. In otheraspects of the social messaging hub, the data push server includes aninterface to a push notification server, a notification queue, and aqueue listener. Another aspect of the social messaging hub, themessaging hub includes a common message conversation queue.

Advantageously the social messaging hub runs software for convertingmessages into the different formats and employed in each of theforegoing messaging environments, and may include software for filingand maintaining all the text/multi-media messages of a user for later orsimultaneous access, transmission or retransmission to the user's blogs,Facebook and other contacts. The social messaging hub allows a user tosend one message across several social networks via text messaging,instant messaging (IM) and other Internet protocol (IP) based messagingformats to multiple contacts in one operation.

Embodiments of the invention include any type of computerized device,workstation, handheld, tablet or laptop computer, or the like configuredwith software and/or circuitry (e.g., a processor) to process any or allof the method operations disclosed herein. In other words, acomputerized device or a processor that is programmed or configured tooperate as explained herein is considered an embodiment of theinvention.

Other embodiments of the invention that are disclosed herein includesoftware programs to perform the steps and operations summarized aboveand disclosed in detail below. One such embodiment comprises a computerprogram product that has a computer-readable medium including computerprogram logic encoded thereon that, when performed in a computerizeddevice having a coupling of a memory and a processor and a display,programs the processor to perform the operations disclosed herein. Sucharrangements are typically provided as software, code and/or other data(e.g., data structures) arranged or encoded on a computer readablemedium such as an optical medium (e.g., CD-ROM), floppy or hard disk orother a medium such as firmware or microcode in one or more ROM or RAMor PROM chips or as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).The software or firmware or other such configurations can be installedonto a computerized device to cause the computerized device to performthe techniques explained herein. Other configurations include webapplications, browsers, IP applications and data enabled deviceapplications as will be explained in more detail.

It is to be understood that the features of the social messaging hub canbe embodied strictly as a software program, as software and hardware, oras hardware alone such as within a single processor or multipleprocessors, or within an operating system or within a softwareapplication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescription of embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and figures in which like reference charactersrefer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings arenot necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead being placed uponillustrating the embodiments, principles and concepts of the invention.These and other features of the invention will be understood from thedescription and claims herein, taken together with the drawings ofillustrative embodiments, wherein

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a social messaging hub and networkenvironment/messaging infrastructure in accordance with one exampleembodiment disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the social messaging hub of FIG. 1including an embodiment of a system configured for multiple messagingproviders;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a text handling subsystem;

FIG. 4 illustrates details an embodiment of the social messaging hub ofFIG. 1 configured for Twitter messaging;

FIG. 5 illustrates details an embodiment of the social messaging hub ofFIG. 1 configured for IM messaging;

FIG. 6 illustrates details of an embodiment including a pushnotification service;

FIGS. 7-9 are flow charts of processing steps performed to register dataenabled devices and affect social media and SMS messaging among thesedevices and mobile phones through a messaging infrastructure inaccordance with embodiments disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A social messaging hub combines text, chat and IM across multiplescreens and enables users to access social media via SMS from anywherein the world. The social messaging hub enables users to stay sociallyconnected via social media sites regardless of their geographiclocation. The social messaging hub enables users to seamlessly interactwith their favorite social sites and communication platforms.

Now referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary social messaging hub 100 operatesin network environment 10 which includes messaging infrastructure 20.The social messaging hub 100 includes one or more processors 112 a-112 nand is coupled to the network environment 10 and messaginginfrastructure 20 through a firewall 102. The firewall 102 is typicallylocated at a social messaging hub 100 hosting facility.

The messaging infrastructure 20 includes, but is not limited to, a ShortMessage Service Center (SMSC) 12, a third party SMS aggregator 14 (alsoreferred to a SMS aggregator 14), a billing and provisioning system 16,an SMS Gateway (SMS-GW) 18, social messaging gateways 22 and a cellularphone infrastructure 28. Other components of the messaginginfrastructure 20 include a Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) 13 andadditional SMS-Gateways and other SMSCs and billing and provisioningsystems provided by additional mobile carrier service providers (notshown). The SMSC 12 and the billing and provisioning system 16 aretypically operated by a mobile carrier service provider. The MSC 13 isalso typically operated by a mobile carrier service provider and foundin Europe and other countries outside the United States. The socialmessaging gateways 22 include connections to IM services, for exampleAOL instant messenger (AIM), Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live MessengerJabber, Skype, Tencent QQ, ICQ and GoogleTalk (gTalk), and other socialnetworks such as Facebook and Twitter.

In one embodiment, the social messaging hub 100 communicates with thesystems in the messaging infrastructure 20 (e.g., SMSC 12, the thirdparty SMS aggregator 14 and the billing and provisioning system 16)using various network protocols including the Short Message Peer-to-Peer(SMPP) protocol, Signaling Transport (SIGTRAN) protocol or SS7 protocol.The SMPP protocol is a telecommunications industry protocol forexchanging SMS messages between SMS peer entities.

In this embodiment, the link between the social messaging hub 100 andthe messaging infrastructure 20 is secured by the firewall 102 using avirtual private network (VPN) connection with HTTPS using 1024 bit(3DES-SHA1) encryption. Messages are transferred over SMPP link 104 andprovisioning and single sign on (SSO), XML and SOAP messages and othercontrol traffic are interchanged over control link 106. In anotherembodiment, messages are transferred over SIGTRAN (SS7 over IP)depending on the connection (e.g., a connection to a European MobileOperator).

The social messaging hub 100 is connected via the Internet 25 or adedicated connection to the messaging infrastructure 20 that relaysmessages between existing customer equipment, for example, a mobilephone 29, a data enabled mobile phone 30, a data enabled WiFi phone 31and other data enabled devices (not shown) such as a laptop, netbook,tablet and a smart phone. The mobile phone 29 can be connected to thesocial messaging hub 100 over the cellular phone infrastructure 28through the SMSC 12 using an SMS protocol. The MSC 13 is also connectedto the cellular phone infrastructure 28. The data enabled mobile phone30 can be connected to the social messaging hub 100 over the cellularphone infrastructure 28 using a data connection provided by OTA/WAPprotocols. A data enabled WiFi phone 31 can be connected to the socialmessaging hub 100 via a WiFi connection to the Internet. It isunderstood that a mobile phone can be data enabled via both a WAPconnection and a WiFi connection. The data enabled WiFi phone 31 issometimes referred to as a dual mode phone if it can also connect overWAP. As referred to herein, a “non-telephony” device is a data enableddevice which does not incorporate mobile phone hardware and software andwhich sends and receives SMS messages over a IP channel in contrast tomobile phone 29 which sends and receives SMS messages over standardcellular phone control channel.

A laptop personal computer 32 can be connected to the social messaginghub 100 via a wired Internet 25 connection 36 or a wireless Internetconnection (not shown). Other mobile/portable data enabled devices (notshown) include but are not limited to a portable media players, personaldigital assistants, Wi-Fi mobile platforms, pad-tablet computers,portable e-Readers, personal computers, portable game players, gameconsoles and netbook computers which can be connected to the socialmessaging hub 100 via the Internet 25 using a WiFi, wired or otherwireless connection. These devices, the data enabled mobile phone 30 andthe data enabled WiFi phone 31 are collectively referred to as adataenabled device 26 or devices 26 and these devices generally establish anInternet protocol (IP) session or connection with the social messaginghub 100. Some data enabled devices 26 interface with the socialmessaging hub 100 using a client browser 37 and other data enableddevices 26 interface with the social messaging hub 100 using a clientsoftware component (also referred to as a client application or simply“app”). The client browser 37 communication to a corresponding webapplication and the client application (app) are collectively referredto as application 40.

In operation and as described below in more detail, the social messaginghub 100 obtains a plurality of unique identifiers which in oneembodiment, are telephone numbers acquired through or serviced by acompetitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), local exchange carrier (LEC)or other provider that is authorized to issue or service registeredphone numbers, and the set of numbers so issued may be serviced by thatcarrier's network, another carrier network or by a separate entity orsub-entity such as a network unaffiliated virtual operator (NUVO), thatserves as the service provider to users and functions as a destinationcarrier to receive messages directed to its telephone numbers from theSMS aggregator 14, an SMS operator (e.g., a mobile carrier), a contentprovider or another NUVO, and to provide an Internet interface fordelivery of the messages to users' data enabled devices 26.

The social messaging hub 100 assigns a user of a data enabled device 26a unique identifier from the plurality of unique identifiers and thesocial messaging hub 100 associates the unique identifier with a dataenabled device identifier. The data enabled device identifier includesbut is not limited to a network address, a Unique Device Identifier(UDID), a Media Access Control address (MAC address), a InternationalMobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), a Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEID),a Electronic Serial Number (ESN) and a CPU serial number, of the dataenabled device 26. The social messaging hub 100 registers theassociation between the unique identifier with a data enabled deviceidentifier in a database. After the user is assigned a uniqueidentifier, a userid and password is when the application 40 is started.When the user registers the enabled device 26 and signs-in to an IMservice or social media account (e.g., AIM, Yahoo Messenger, WindowsLive Messenger and GoogleTalk, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) the accountinformation is stored, in certain embodiments, on the user's dataenabled device in a mini database for app. Previously storedlogin/signon information can be retrieved in order to sign on the userautomatically.

In one embodiment, the user is given a registered phone number andunique IP addressable identification. The IP addressable identificationis a connectionless method by which the user supplied email address,supplied as part of the registration process for contact purposes, iscombined with the unique registered phone number. By affecting such acombination of two unique identifiers, each supplied by separateparties, a unique identification is created that can be located in aconnectionless manner on the Internet.

For inbound messages (i.e., sent to the data enabled device 26), thesocial messaging hub 100 receives the text message from the messaginginfrastructure 20 (e.g., message service SMSC 12, or SMS aggregator 14).The message is directed to the user's data enabled device 26 having theregistered unique identifier obtained from the text message source, andthe social messaging hub 100 provides the message to an inbound service,establishes a connection between a data enabled device 26 and theinbound service and pushes the text message from the inbound service toan application or web browser running on the data enabled device 26.

For outbound messages (i.e., sent from the data enabled device 26). thesocial messaging hub 100 receives the text message from the data enableddevice 26 including a destination identifier for the message, processingthe message and provide the message to SMS destination through themessaging infrastructure 20 (e.g., SMSC 12, or SMS aggregator 14) fordelivery to the message recipient.

The social messaging hub 100 can submit multiple messages in onetransmission using a 1 to many feature in conjunction with theapplication 40 (i.e., web client or smart phone app). The socialmessaging hub 100 transfers messages between data enabled devices 26without the use of the message infrastructure 20 even if phone numbersare used as the addresses. Provisioning and SSO are incorporated in thesocial messaging hub 100 such that once a registered phone number andother user information is stored in database 126 connections and loginscan be established automatically.

As described below in conjunction with FIGS. 2-5, the social messaginghub 100 may be configured to interface and exchange messages withvarious specialized social messaging services, such as AIM, YahooMessenger, Windows Live Messenger, GoogleTalk, Facebook, Twitter, aswell as SMS/MMS-capable mobile phones and smart phones, and operatessuch that incoming mobile text messages are transparently routed,locally or internationally, through existing SMS/MMS deliveryorganizations in the messaging infrastructure.

More generally, embodiments of the social messaging hub 100 include anapplication which enables a user (sometimes referred to herein as asubscriber) to perform SMS/MMS/EMS or chat activities using a dataenabled device 26, such as an iPod Touch, iPad, portable e-Reader, apersonal computer, a portable game player, a game console, a laptop, atelevision set or a netbook computer, all of which can connect to theInternet. Messaging is carried out bi-directionally between the dataenabled device 26 (non-telephony device, smartphone or other datadevices) and other SMS capable devices. The social messaging hub 100 isimplemented without any add-ons, that is, without requiring the user toattach accessory electronic devices, and is implemented via a the socialmessaging hub 100 that maintains an Internet connected server thatinterfaces with certain wireless messaging facilities in the messaginginfrastructure 20 to establish device-to-wireless communications. Indifferent embodiments, the social messaging hub 100 may be a separatededicated entity, or may be a service entity set up within a mobileservice provider to service data enabled devices 26 of some of theprovider's subscribers. Further, the social messaging hub 100 mayprovide applications for managing the address books, messages andaccount information of the user.

When the social messaging hub 100 is a separate message service centerentity, the social messaging hub 100 operations may be incorporated byone or more mobile providers to extend their subscriber servicecapabilities and the provider entity may provide dedicated connectionsfor affecting coordination between services, call logs and billing forthe affected accounts.

Features of the social messaging hub 100 may be provided within, or asexternal hosting services communicating with an existing mobile networkprovider as a web based application using advanced web capabilities, andmay be configured to handle all forms of messaging for the subscribers.In such embodiments, a web client application provides the user with asingle integrated interface wherein the subscriber can view or sendSMS/MMS/EMS messages, tweets (integrated with Twitter), chat (for whichthe system supports MSN or AIM or Yahoo or GoogleTalk or Facebook orother similar IM service as the chat client), or status, for exampleFacebook Status. Subscription/Unsubscription operations can be performedfrom a web client running on any data enabled device 26 that supportsstandard Internet browsers or from IP based applications.

FIG. 2 illustrates the architecture of one embodiment of the socialmessaging hub 100 for multiple messaging applications. The socialmessaging hub 100 includes an SMS provider 120 which provides theinterface to the messaging infrastructure 20 and in particular in oneembodiment to the SMSC 12, SMS aggregator 14 and (SMS-GW) 18. The SMSprovider 120 is used to send and receive SMS/MMS/EMS messagesrespectively to and from: a mobile phone 29 through the cellular phoneinfrastructure 28 and a data enable device 26 shown here as laptoppersonal computer 32 and a smart phone 50.

The SMS provider 120 is interfaced to a web farm 150 having one or moreservers 152 a-152 n (collectively referred to as web server 152). Theservers 152 a-152 n store the SMS/MMS/EMS messages received andSMS/MMS/EMS messages to be delivered in conjunction with database server125 and database 126. The servers 152 a-152 n also support a Hubapplication 42 which runs in conjunction an application 40 on dataenabled device 26, here laptop 32 or smart phone 50. The web farm 150 iscoupled to a database server 125 and corresponding database 126 which isused to store user information including the association between theassigned unique identifiers and data enabled device identifiers.

The social messaging hub 100 further includes a common messageconversation queue which is interfaced to the database 126 and themessage processing engine 128. The social messaging hub 100 furtherincludes a Twitter service 142 connected to a Twitter applicationprogramming interface (API) 202, a Facebook Service 144 connected to aFacebook API 204, and an IM Service 146 connected to an IM services API206. The Hub application 42 provides support the Twitter service 142,the Facebook Service 144 and the IM Service 146 and connection fromthese services to the applications 40 (including browsers 37 and apps48) running on the data enabled devices 26.

The database server 125 is connected to a message processing engine 128which has an associated message processing database 136. Database server125 in conjunction with database 126 primarily stores SMS messages andcertain user information and it is used when interfacing to themessaging infrastructure 20. Database 136 is used in conjunction withother messaging functions such as IM, Chat, etc.

The components of the social messaging hub 100, in one embodiment, aredeveloped in C, C++, JAVA® or other suitable programming language, andinclude web servers, such as Apache, Microsoft Internet InformationServices platform (IIS) or other suitable server systems operating on aUNIX, Microsoft or other operating system platform to store andcommunicate messages to Internet devices. An exemplary softwareframework for the social messaging hub 100 includes the following:

The Hub application 42 on servers 152 a-152 n runs on a .Net frameworkand is hosted on a Microsoft 1157 system on a windows 2008 server.

The database 126 is a relational database implemented in this embodimentusing a 2008 SQL Server, and the message processing engine 128 isimplemented as a COMET server, using Frozen Mountain's COMET engine(using .net framework on IIS7).

The SMS provider 120 is a C++ server application which interacts withthe messaging infrastructure 20.

The Twitter service 142 is a .Net WCF based service which communicateswith Twitter via a Twitter API 202 to provide the Twitter feed to theapplications 40.

Implementations for specific social messaging entities and devices areschematically illustrated in FIG. 2 which, for purposes of discussion,reference the above-described software and other communicationselements. It is understood, however, that the servers, interfaces andother hardware and software elements of each system may vary within abroad range, so long as the system is well integrated with its operativecomponents and is configured to communicate effectively with the othermessaging entities involved.

In operation, the SMS provider 120 determines from the destination of areceived message where to route the message through the messaginginfrastructure 20. The message may be routed through to one of the SMSC12, the SMS aggregator 14 the (SMS-GW) 18 or other communicationsentity, operated by a mobile operator, aggregator or some otherintermediary.

The social messaging hub 100 consolidates message delivery into a commonmessage conversation queue 130 and intermixes messages from othermessaging services, including presence activity and geographic locationdata into the common message conversation queue 130. This consolidation,allows the social messaging hub 100 to enable personal replies to bethreaded back to the user's social inbox so individual chatconversations can continue across multiple data enabled devices toprovide multi-screen messaging. Texting conversations follow users fromthe Facebook App to their smartphone or tablet and vice versa. A usercan read a message from anywhere and respond on any device with the samephone number. Chat based systems, such as Facebook, are operated usingthe common message conversation queue 130 to facilitate combined commonmessage conversations.

When used to support multiple mobile network providers, advantageously,the social messaging hub 100 is configurable for each provider. Aninstance of the social messaging hub 100 is set up for each provider andincludes separate instances of the database 126, Twitter service 142,Facebook service 144, IM services 146, message processing engine 128 andthe SMS provider 120. It is understood that the various server functionsof the social messaging hub 100 could be run on a single computer ormultiple computers, storage could be provided by individual storagemedia or a storage area network.

FIG. 3 illustrates further details of the text message-handlingsubsystem of the social messaging hub 100. A web client 38 operating ona data enabled device 26, connects to the social messaging hub 100.After user login and authentication, the Hub application 42 initiates apersistence connection (i.e., using the same Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) connection to send and receive multiple HypertextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) requests/responses) to the message processingengine 128. As described above, the application 40 can be either a webclient 38 (e.g., browser) or an app running on a data enabled device 26.

Outbound SMS/MMS messages are sent to the SMS provider 120 which in turnrelays the message to the messaging infrastructure 20 (e.g., SMSAggregator 14 or the SMSC 12). It is the responsibility, for example, ofthe SMSC 12 to send this message to the receiving party's (addressee's)device. Inbound SMS/MMS/EMS messages for a user of the social messaginghub 100 are received by the SMS provider 120 from the SMSC 12. The SMSprovider 120 relays the message to an inbound service 124 which storesthe message in the social messaging hub 100 database and also relays itto the message processing engine 128. The message processing engine 128sends this message to the subscribed application 40 if an active sessionis available. If an active session is not available, the messages arestored in queue for delivery upon next login of the recipient

Now referring to FIG. 4, in one embodiment, a social messaging hub 100includes the Twitter service 142 subsystem and the Twitter API 202. TheTwitter service 142 subsystem can provide a web or applicationinterface, Twitter Hub Application 132. In operation, the application 40on the data enabled device 26 connects to the Twitter hub application132. In the case of PC, the Twitter hub application 132 provides a webapplication to run in conjunction with a browser on the data enableddevice 26. In one embodiment, the user uses a short code (e.g., 40404)and sends an SMS message “Start” in establish a connection with theTwitter Service 142. The user then can proceed to send and receive“Tweets” via SMS messaging.

When used from a data enabled device 26 operating a web browser, a webclient 38 connects to the Twitter Service 142 through the web server 152running the Twitter Hub application 132 component of the Hub application42. After user login and authentication, the user opens a Twitter Panel,and the Twitter Hub application 132 displays recent Twitter feeds to theuser. The web server 152 sends the Twitter user information to theTwitter service 142 (also referred to a SocialServicePolling webservice) which polls the Twitter service through a Twitter API 202periodically for feed updates. When a new feed is received from Twitter,the Twitter service 142 forwards the feed to the web server 152 throughthe inbound service 124. The inbound service 124 relays this feed to themessage processing engine 128 which sends the feed to the subscribed webclient 38 if it is connected.

The social messaging hub 100 implementation of Twitter messagingadvantageously enables users of the social messaging hub 100 to receivethe ‘Tweets’ of the people that they are following on Twitter via SMS ona global basis with no regard to national country borders. Inconventional implementations service, a person can only receive theTweets of the people they are following on Twitter via SMS within thehome/native country of their mobile carrier provider. For example, if alocal carrier is the providing mobile carrier for a user, once theperson leaves the US, the Tweets delivered by SMS directed to the user'smobile phone are not delivered. This is due partly to cost, partlybusiness contracts (lack of contracts between Twitter and mobilecarriers) and technology limitations.

Using the assigned unique identifier, the user can use multiple devicesin conjunction with the unique identifier to send and receive messagesworldwide without having to constantly change messaging services. TheFacebook service 144 operates in a manner similar to the Twitter Service142 described above in conjunction with FIG. 4. The common messageconversation queue 130 enables personal replies to be threaded back tothe user's social inbox so individual chat conversations can continueacross multiple data enabled devices to provide multi-screen messaging.The user can also use a Group Message feature by sending text and chatmessages out to Facebook, IM's and through SMS to contacts in the user'smobile address book. Texting conversations follow users from theFacebook App to their smartphone or tablet and vice versa. A user canread a message from anywhere and respond on any device with the samephone number.

In another embodiment (not shown), the social messaging hub 100 providesthe ability to send and receive SMS message with a user's own phonenumber from within the user's Facebook account. A Facebook applicationexecutes within Facebook to utilize SMS with the user's assigned phonenumber for sending and receiving SMS. The Facebook application logs ontoservers 152 in the social messaging hub 100, establishing an ‘IPsession’ while the user is within Facebook. Operationally this issimilar to when the user is connected to the social messaging hub 100from a data enabled device 26 with an IP connection, but the messagesare received from and delivered to the Facebook application. Theconnection of the Facebook application to the social messaging hub 100allows a Facebook user to send and receive SMS from within Facebookwithout having to exit Facebook. Other users in the outside world arenot aware of whether the user is in Facebook or on their phone or otherdata enabled device 26.

Now referring to FIG. 5, in another embodiment, a social messaging hub100 includes an Instant Messaging (IM) service 146 and an IM Hubapplication 148 component of the Hub application 42. In operation, theweb client 38 connects to the web server 152 which is running the IM Hubapplication 148. After user login and authentication, and the user opensan IM Panel (supplied by the social messaging hub 100) in the webclient, the user is authenticated by the IM web site. Onceauthenticated, the user can chat with friends through the IM panel. Thechat messages are not handled directly by the social messaging hub 100but are handled by IM services 146. Only the social messaging hub 100web page is used to send and view the chat messages.

Additionally, presence information with regard to the user's IM serviceaddress book is communicated through the social messaging hub 100 IMservice 146 and displayed in the user's address book for the IM service.The IM services include IM communication using for example AIM, YahooMessenger, Windows Live Messenger and GoogleTalk,

Now referring to FIG. 6, another embodiment of a social messaging hub100 operates with smart phones 50 and other data enabled devices 26having additional messaging and application features supported by themobile carrier provider and the phone manufacturer. Examples of suchsmart phones include smart phones running the Android™ operating systemand Apple Corporation's iPhones and iPods. The social messaging hub 100includes a set of Representational State Transfer (REST) web services156 (also referred to as REST web services 156). The social messaginghub 100 further includes a notification queue 162 and a queue listener164 which is interfaced to an external Push notification server 168.

The smart phone client/app 48 communicates with the social messaging hub100 via the REST web services 156. The first time the smart phone 50runs the smart phone app 48, the application requests an Auth Token fromthe REST service. The Auth Token is delivered by the web service via thePush Notification Server 168. This Auth Token is stored by the smartphone app 48 and passed to the Push Notification service with everysubsequent call for verification/security purpose.

After getting the Auth Token, the smart phone app 48 requests atelephone number. This number is then used by the smart phone app 48 tosend and receive SMS/MMS/EMS messages. The REST web services 156 delivera unique identifier (e.g., a telephone number) and also create a Userlogin account that can be used for logging onto the web/application. Theinbound messages enter the social messaging hub 100 through the SMSprovider 120, which connects to the inbound service 124. The inboundservice 124 pushes out a Message Received notification via the PushNotification Server 168 using the notification queue 162 and the queuelistener 164. When the smart phone app 48 gets the Message ReceivedNotification, it retrieves the message from the social messaging hub 100through a connection to the social messaging hub 100 REST services 156.All the notifications are delivered to the Notification Queue 162, fromwhere they are picked up by the Queue Listener 164 and delivered to thePush Notification Server 168. The Hub application 42 can initiate arequest to upload contacts from the smart phone 50. This request goesthrough the notification server 168 and the smart phone app 48 uploadsthe contacts by calling the REST service 156. Uploaded contacts allowthe social messaging hub 100 to cross reference the contacts allowing auser to send a message via name and be notified of a received message byname instead of phone number. Additionally locator/tracking features byname are enabled by contact information. Outbound messages are processby the REST web services 156 as part of the Hub application 42. Themessages are transferred to the SMS provider 120 for delivery throughthe messaging infrastructure 20.

To insure that a text message is delivered to the right device and toprevent anyone spoofing the address when a push notification is notavailable, the social messaging hub 100 architecture utilizes a sessionbased communications model requiring authentication by login with useridand password registered devices or a non-registered device is being used(e.g.—a PC), Thus, it is virtually impossible to have a combination ofan unregistered, unauthorized, or unrecognized device receive messageswithout some form of legitimate userid/password combination to establishthe session.

In one specific embodiment supporting the Apple iOS environment (i.e.,Apple iOS devices, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad etc.), the Push NotificationServer 168 is an Apple Push Notification Server. When used with a smartphone such as an iPhone, a Droid a Windows Mobile-based phone, or anyphone having a GPS chip, the system may also be configured with a safetyor monitoring application. In one such configuration, the systemaccesses the GPS chip of the mobile device, and if the user or accountholder (such as a parent paying the telephone bill) so elects, thesocial messaging hub 100 client application may be set to disable thesending/receiving of SMS/MMS. In one embodiment, the social messaginghub 100 in conjunction with application 40 provides the geographicdistance of a user's contacts from the user's present location. Inaddition, use of cell tower triangulation data in combination of IPgeo-location estimation provides a 3-way or 2-way or 1-way estimation ofgeographic location.

In FIG. 7, flowchart 700 diagrams the overall process of thetransmission and reception of SMS messages facilitated by the socialmessaging hub 100. In step 710 the social messaging hub 100, obtains aplurality of unique identifiers. In step 720, a user of the data enableddevice 26 is assigned a unique identifier from the plurality of uniqueidentifiers. In step 730, the unique identifier is associated with adata enabled device identifier, and in step 740, the unique identifierto data enabled device identifier association is registered in thedatabase 126.

In step 750, a message is received from a message source through amessage service in the messaging infrastructure 20 directed to theuser's data enabled device 26 having the registered unique identifierobtained from the message source. In step 760, the message is providedby the SMS Provider 120 using the database 126 to identify thedestination of message to an inbound service 124. In step 770, aconnection is established between the data enabled device 26 and theinbound service 124, and finally in step 780, the message is pushed fromthe inbound service 124 to an application running 40 on the data enableddevice.

FIG. 8 diagrams the overall process of the transmission of SMS messagesfacilitated by the social messaging hub 100. In step 810 the socialmessaging hub 100 receives a message from the data enabled deviceincluding a destination identifier for the message. In step 820, themessage is processed in the SMS provider 120 which determines the bestdelivery route through the messaging infrastructure 20, and in step 830,the message is provided to the appropriate message service in themessaging infrastructure 20 for delivery to the message recipientindicated by a SMS destination identifier.

FIG. 9 illustrates additional steps performed by the social messaginghub 100. In step 910, in the case of certain devices the subscribingprocess includes registers the application 40 to receive pushnotifications. For example, the app running on an iPhone or iPod Touchis registered to receive Apple Push Notifications as part of the processto receive SMS messages on the iPhone or iPod Touch.

In one embodiment, the step of assign a user a unique identifierincludes creating a User login account for logging onto the socialmessaging hub application 100 at step 920. A user supplied email addresssupplied as part of the registration process for contact purposes iscombined with the unique registered phone number. Such a combination oftwo unique identifiers, each supplied by separate parties provides aunique identification that can be located in a connectionless manner onthe Internet.

In step 930, message delivery is consolidated into a single commonmessage conversation queue, followed by step 940 where the intermixingmessaging services and presence activity data are intermixed into thesingle common message conversation queue 130.

While configurations of the system and method have been particularlyshown and described with references to configurations thereof, it willbe understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in formand details may be made therein without departing from the scope of theinvention. As an example, the order of processing steps in the flowcharts is not limited to the order shown herein. Accordingly, thepresent invention is not limited by the example configurations providedabove.

What is claimed is:
 1. A social messaging hub for Short MessageService/Multimedia Messaging Service/Enhanced Messaging Service(SMS/MMS/EMS) communications comprising: an SMS provider; an inboundservice coupled to the SMS provider; a database coupled to the inboundservice and a web server; a Hub application operating on the web serverand comprising a plurality of message services; and a plurality ofmessage service application programming interfaces coupled tocorresponding ones of the plurality of message services.
 2. The socialmessaging hub of claim 1, wherein the data push server comprises aninterface to a push notification server, a notification queue, and aqueue listener.
 3. The social messaging hub of claim 1, furthercomprising a common message conversation queue.
 4. The social messaginghub of claim 1, wherein the common message conversation queueconsolidates message from a plurality of IP connected data enableddevices.
 5. The social messaging hub of claim 1, wherein the Hubapplication comprises: a Representational State Transfer (REST) servicecoupled to the web server; and a data push server coupled to the RESTservice.
 6. A computer-implemented method for messaging communicationswith a data enabled device, the method comprising: obtaining a pluralityof unique identifiers; assigning to a user of the data enabled device aunique identifier from the plurality of unique identifiers; associatingthe unique identifier with a plurality of data enabled devices andcorresponding data enabled device identifiers; registering the uniqueidentifier to data enabled device identifier associations in a database;establishing an Internet protocol (IP) connection with each of theplurality of data enabled devices; receiving an SMS text message from amessage source through a message service directed to the user'splurality of data enabled devices having the registered uniqueidentifier obtained from the message source; identifying the destinationof message to an inbound service; and establishing a connection betweenat least one of the plurality of data enabled devices and the inboundservice.
 7. The method of claim 6 further comprising pushing the messagefrom the inbound service to an application running on at least one ofthe plurality of the data enabled devices configured to receive the SMStext message.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the data enabled deviceidentifier includes one of: a network address; a Unique DeviceIdentifier (UDID); a Media Access Control address (MAC address); anInternational Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI); a Mobile EquipmentIdentifier (MEID); an Electronic Serial Number (ESN); and a CPU serialnumber.
 9. The method of claim 5, further comprising delivering themessage to the inbound service through one of: a Short Message ServiceCenter (SMSC); an SMS aggregator; an SMS gateway; an Internet protocol(IP) connection; and wherein the source of the message is one of: amessaging community; a social community; and a content provider.
 10. Themethod of claim 5, further comprising: receiving a message from the dataenabled device including a destination identifier for the message;processing the message in an SMS provider; providing the message to themessage service for delivery to the message recipient indicated by a SMSdestination identifier; and wherein the message is an SMS message. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein the destination of the message is oneof: a Short Message Service (SMS)/Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)operator; and an SMS/MMS aggregator.
 12. The method of claim 1, whereinthe application is one of a browser and a smart phone app.
 13. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the plurality of unique identifiers includesat least one of a plurality of: telephone numbers; Unique DeviceIdentifiers (UDIDs); Media Access Control addresses (MAC addresses);Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEID); Electronic Serial Number (ESN); CPUserial number; and International Mobile Equipment Identities (IMEIs).14. The method of claim 6, further comprising consolidating messagedelivery into a common message conversation queue; and intermixingmessages from a plurality of messaging services, including presenceactivity data and geographic location into the common messageconversation queue.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the source ofthe message is micro-blogging service, the message is a micro-blog andthe message delivery is independent of national country borders andcarrier networks; and further comprising operating a micro-bloggingservice coupled through a micro-blogging API to receive microblogmessages.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the source of the messageis an online social networking service, and further comprising sendingone of an SMS message and a social network service message using theunique identifier from an online social networking service application.17. The method of claim 14, wherein the destination of the message is anonline social networking service, and further comprising in a an onlinesocial networking service application, receiving and viewing the messagedirected to the unique identifier.
 18. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising threading messages back to the user's social network inbox soindividual chat conversations can continue across multiple data enableddevices to provide multi-screen messaging.
 19. The method of claim 5,wherein obtaining a plurality of unique identifiers includes from aobtaining a plurality of unique identifiers from a local exchangecarrier (LEC).
 20. A non-transitory computer storage medium, comprisingexecutable instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause thecomputer to: obtain a plurality of unique identifiers; assign to a userof the data enabled device a unique identifier from the plurality ofunique identifiers; associate the unique identifier with a plurality ofdata enabled devices and corresponding data enabled device identifiers;register the unique identifier to data enabled device identifierassociation in a database; establish an Internet protocol (IP)connection with each of the plurality of data enabled devices; receivean SMS text message from a message source through a message servicedirected to the user's plurality of data enabled devices having theregistered unique identifier obtained from the message source, themessage service delivering the message to an inbound service fordelivery to the data enabled device; provide the message using thedatabase to identify the destination of message to the inbound service;and establish a connection between the at least one of the plurality ofdata enabled devices and the inbound service.